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I don't really understand this. My positions are pretty good in Yahoo, MSN etc.. although none of them send anything in comparison to Google.
How can it be that it's such a high figure? I see others saying that they get 50% or 60%, sometimes less, sometimes a bit more, but is anyoine else getting as much as 95% of their search engine traffic from Google.
I don't do any spamming or anything that would be considered "unethical", so I guess I shouldn't have to worry about being penalized and thus loosing the traffic, but none the less I am extremely concerned about all of my eggs being in one basket.
The industry is consumer electronics, although it's a very niche segment of the industry.
What can I do to diversify this further? My rankings don't seem to be too bad in these other engines, which is leaving me mystified.
However I am concerned that not more searches come from Yahoo, MSN, etc. I get about 1 out of every 100 searches from Yahool and less for the others.
I heard that Yahoo focuses more on percent of keywords and Google more on backlinks so guess I'm going to check my main pages and see if I can't tweak my keywords up a bit for Yahoo's delicate palate.
Yes, seems on page more of a factor for yahoo.
We sell an IT service to businesses. We are 100% B2B. For our main keywords, we are similiarly ranked in Y and G for years. G generates 90% of search engine leads. My theory is that business people, especially techies in business, all use G.
So the answer to your question is that you probably offer something that appeals to the G demographic/user. Do you sell a B2B product/service?
The product is a niche segment of consumer electronics - more for hobbyists or amateurs than for businesses - so it's safe to say it's more B2C than B2B, but these items are also sold to businesses.
The product is a niche segment of consumer electronics
I think that this may be why you are getting all the Google traffic. Someone already stated that techies use Google before Yahoo. The splash, adverts and irrelevant junk that you find on Yahoo's search page appeal to a different type of consumer. You can hardly see the search window amongst all the rest while in Google the search window is the main focus.
Google is preferred by more serious searchers and I don't need demographic stats to prove this to me. I suffer from the same problem as Chicoloco and I am also targeting a technical audience. Last year my site bombed in Google and I lost 80% of my traffic overnight.
I got it back after six months but I am still as vulnerable as before. I see no way round this other than the emergence of another a search engine that will also appeal to the techies.
Well at least it is possible to rank on Yahoo. Unlike Google right now:)
Yahoo has made it to easy. If your domain is "keyword1-keyword2-keyword3" or "keyword1keyword2keyword3" your #1 or #2.
Branded domains are at a significant disadvantage in that atmosphere.
Maybe. But it is too risky to put all your eggs in one basket. If you depend on only one SE, another traffic source is a way of diversifying risk. Why don’t do it?
I don't think there are really any good ways to diversify until people themselves start to diversify and start using other engines or methods of finding sites.
I've got links from the "big boys" in the industry, and they bring traffic. I've got listed in the ODP, and them along with those that use their data bring traffic. I've started a forum as a means of getting and additional "stickyness", and that brings traffic. I've got a mailing list, and that brings traffic. Yet none of these things really have an affect on Google's domination.
I'd do an affiliate program, but the profits are so low that I really couldn't offer more than about 5-7% of the sale price, and the sales price on some items is as low as $15, so that would not really be encouraging enough. Once this is more feasible it will get done.
Perhaps given your experience of Google capturing most of the searches for a nichie consumer electronics product and my experience of Google capturing most of the traffic of IT people in businesses, it isn't really a B2B or B2C issue, it's more of a techie issue. G brings in the techies, whatever the product or service.
I think your point was right on "I don't think there are really any good ways to diversify until people themselves start to diversify and start using other engines or methods of finding sites."
I agree in terms of SE diversification. It is probably all G, all the time, for the techie audience. But then there are offline marketing vehicles, direct mail, print ads, etc. that you might try to diversify your lead generation away from pure SE traffic. That's what we are trying now.
That's a very good point. Being a purely web based company, sometimes you forget about offline marketing! We've got about 500 addresses of clients, I supposed I could use those to do a snail-mail campaign. A lot more expensive perhaps, but it might carry my company well over into the physical world, which could potentially lead to higher profile clients....
Great thinking - this thread has indeed been useful, and I hope it help others. Thanks to everyone for the replies!
